"Baby Got Back?"

I think we all have heard of Nicki Minaj for her outrageous outfits at award shows and her extravagantly large butt. But is there more to Minaj than some one who is seeking fame for her over the top qualities?

Nicki Minaj is the first female rapper to actually make an impact in the rap industry. Minaj is known for her distinctive rap style with its fast flow and use of alter egos and accents. Many consider her one of the must influential female rappers of all time. With this individuality Minaj is making sure that people notice her as a woman at the top of her game.

With her recent release of her video for “Anaconda” Minaj is turning heads. “Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj came out on her album “The Pinkprint” in 2014. This song does a sample of the song “Baby got back” by Sir-Mix-A-Lot. In the video Minaj is seen wearing nothing more than a g-string thong and a bra with the lyrics “my anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns hun” repeating in the chorus.

Provocative? Yes

But this video is paving the way for women to be able to embrace their bodies. Sir-Mix-A-Lot talks about how his original song was not just to show his appreciation for the booty but also to tell women, especially black women that it is okay to embrace their bodies. “The black, female body was not accepted as the norm anywhere. All you saw on television for years is over weight black maids or black women who would assimilate to white culture,” Sir- Mix-A-Lot told Huffington post. The point that Sir-Mix-A-Lot was making didn’t really seem to take notice until Minaj’s video release. Coming from a women, the message of embracing the booty is much more powerful than coming from a man. “Coming from a man it can be confused as sexist, coming from a women you know it’s real” says Sir-Mix-A-Lot.

 There are subtle queues in the video where Minaj is clearly trying to make a statement about embracing your body and rejecting male attention.

It takes a lot of confidence for a woman to be almost entirely naked for the whole video, but Minaj pulls it off. There is also a scene where she and her backup dancers come together and embrace each other’s butts. Showing that women can come together to appreciate the bodies that they have instead of tearing each other down and judging all the imperfections.

Later in the music video Minaj is seen vigorously cutting up a banana. The bananas shown in the video are used to symbolize the male genitals. By showing blatant disregard for how a man would feel about seeing something like that she is rejecting the approval of males of her video. The rapper Drake is also featured in the video, there is a part where Nicki seems to be dancing for him but when he tries to touch her, she rejects him. Minaj is showing independence and rejecting the need for male attention.

The idea behind this song is to talk about black women embracing their bodies with out excluding any culture. Both of the videos are used to lure any audience in but they both are seeking out the attention of women. It is a good message coming from a man but from a woman it is empowering to other women to see someone like Minaj embrace her body. Sir-Mix-A-Lot now feels more comfortable with his song now that he has a woman backing him up. 

Though on the surface the video is provocative there is an underlying message. Minaj isn’t just being outrageous to gain fame. She is doing subtle things that are progressing society into a more accepting place. She is paving the way for women in the rap industry and creating a world where a women can embrace her own body.